


Family

by ComradeRaichu



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Gold & Silver & Crystal | Pokemon Gold Silver Crystal Versions
Genre: Gen, Goldenrod City, Growlithe - Freeform, Johto, Pichu - Freeform, Pokemon, Pokemon Crystal, Pokemon Gold, Pokemon Silver, pokemon gen 2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2020-05-20 09:30:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19373953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComradeRaichu/pseuds/ComradeRaichu
Summary: The little boy wants to go home. He misses his family terribly, especially his papa. When he does finally get away from the rough situation he was forced into, will there really be a home and family waiting for him? Will he be brave enough to find out?





	1. Johann

A small boy stood in front of a run-down house. His face stern and determined and his mouth pulled into a tight frown.

He felt a tickle under his left nostril and wiped at it with the back of his hand, stopping to examine the splash of red against the rest of the dark copper smears. A frustrated sigh escaped him and he pinched his nose.

He thought of the woman in the house behind him and set his jaw. It would thrill her to break him. He refused to allow it. She would not hear one whimper pass through his lips or see one tear from him.

He was so deeply concentrating on keeping his emotions controlled that he almost didn't notice a pokemon slowly stalk by his side. Almost. His eyes flicked to it.

The majority of the left side of his face was swollen from a couple of punches he had received earlier that morning. He had to squint to better see the pokemon which gave him an angry appearance.

At first, the pokemon looked like a pikachu to him going by the size but the coloring and markings were off. He covered his swollen eye so he could see more clearly.  _ That's a big pichu _ , he thought.

A memory rushed back to the boy of him sitting with his father and two brothers. Papa in the middle with a pokemon picture book on his lap with the boys cuddled up to his sides. They had gone through that book countless times and his papa would teach them about whichever pokemon the boys pointed out. Because of this, he and his brothers knew their pokemon very well. More so than other children their ages.

He winced at the memory. An almost breathtaking ache, far more painful and powerful than any punch, spread through him. He pushed the memory out of his mind and held back a surge of tears that threatened to overtake him.

The pichu stood alert at the boy's side, three legs on the ground and one tentatively held crooked in the air. He studied the child's face in horrified awe, head stretched toward him, nose twitching and chest heaving as he huffed the boy's scent. The boy felt embarrassed when he noticed the pokemon's gawking and scowled at him.

"Go," he said curtly while pointing away from him. The pokemon ignored the order and instead walked to the boy's feet and gazed up at him with a very serious look on his face, which confused the child. The boy quickly glanced behind him then turned back to the pokemon. Very slowly and stiffly, he lowered down onto one knee.

"Listen. There's a really, really bad person in that house back there," he said. His voice was pleasingly deep to the pichu's ears and surprisingly masculine for his young age which made him sound older than he actually was. Unfortunately, it was made husky and hoarse from the pain he was in. The pichu pressed his large ears forward tightly. Even with his excellent hearing, he was having some trouble understanding the child.

"And another one across the street over there." The boy pointed as he said this. The pichu followed the boy's finger with his eyes then quickly turned back and patted his face.

The boy mimicked the pokemon and touched his cheek. "Am I okay?" he asked. The pichu nodded. "Yeah. You need to leave. Don't let her see you. She'd probably try to catch you and sell you to some awful person or worse."

The pichu took the boy's hand in each front paw and pulled. The boy's body leaned forward slightly as the pokemon tugged him but he didn't move otherwise. When the child didn't come, the pichu took a few quick steps backward and waved, gesturing for him to follow.

"No. I can't leave here yet."

"If you're afraid to go on your own, I'll stay with you until we can get you somewhere safe," the pichu said, before remembering the boy wouldn't be able to understand him. He nodded emphatically but the child only stared at him.

He wanted to go. His bottom lip betrayed his attempt at a neutral face with a small shake. He pressed his lips together hard, ignoring the twinge of pain and the metallic taste that spread over the tip of his tongue until he felt the movement had stopped and spoke.

"There's a pokemon who got hurt bad because of me," the boy said. "That woman who lives in the house back there has his ball. She said if I run off, she'd have her pokemon kill him." The pichu frowned. "I'm not leaving him. I can't. I'm trapped here until I can get that ball back but you aren't. Just go. Please." The pichu shook his head and walked back to the child.

The boy's stomach growled. He tried to hide the discomfort it was causing him but his eyes grew a little wider and his skin paled to almost a ghostly shade of white.

The pichu's face grew more worried as he watched this.  _ I could go and call for father _ , he thought.  _ But then I'd have to leave this boy here by himself. It would take a few days to walk to where I entered the city from here. Father and the others may not even be in this area and might not hear me. _ He looked at the boy's face again. It was back to being blank. The pichu shook his head again. "You're hurt pretty badly. I don't want to leave you," he said.

The boy couldn't understand what the pokemon was saying but appreciated his concern. His face softened and he placed his little hands around the pichu's shoulders but started pulling back when he noticed him flinch at the touch. The pokemon had never been grabbed by a human before. The pichu recovered from his shock and put a paw on the child's hand, stopping him. The boy tried to smile but even with the minuscule experience the pichu had with humans, he could tell the gesture was forced.

The boy spoke gently now. "Thanks for wanting to help me. Don't worry. I'll be okay," he said. "You need to get away fro-" The boy's stomach grumbled again but was louder and more insistent and he couldn't even try to hide the pain it caused him this time.

He squeezed his eyes closed and doubled over, trembling, then gripped his belly with one of his arms in a useless attempt to fight back the nauseous hunger that ate at him.

The pichu watched the boy fall to both knees and kowtow before him.  _ Poor kid _ , he thought. He pet the boy's messy hair with his front paw in an attempt to comfort him.

From inside the house behind the boy came a noise. This caused him to push himself up quickly despite the pain he knew the sudden movement would cause. He looked at the pokemon. With as much authority as he could muster, he ordered him to leave once more. The pichu hesitated and then took off. He sped away to the boy's left and slipped into a pile of rotted wood that had fallen from the roof of the dilapidated house that sat next door.

The boy felt despair as he watched the pokemon leave. He wished he could run away and hide, too. The muscles in his legs twitched in anticipation and he almost allowed the movement to continue but then remembered the poor pokemon and the woman's threats and rooted himself to the spot.

Glancing toward the woodpile, he could see a spot of yellow that he guessed was the pichu. He lifted his hand, careful to keep it in front of his chest so no one in the house behind him would see, and made a motion for the pokemon to stay. He then took in a shaky breath to steady himself for what was about to come.

The door opened and a man exited the house. He stooped to pick up a mud-caked pair of work boots which rested on the porch beside the front door and walked over to the steps, sat, and began to slip a boot over his foot before his eyes caught sight of the boy.

"You just can't keep your mouth shut," he said. There was a touch of irritation in his usually friendly voice. The boy bit his lip worriedly when he picked up on this. The man lifted off the stairs and walked to him. "Hey, I can get how you wouldn't want her as a mom but what do you get from arguing with her about it, huh? Just another beating. I can't stop her if I'm not here. If she starts something, just ignore her."

"Yes, sir." The boy wanted to say ignoring her would set her off just as much but kept quiet.

The man bent down. "Look at me." The boy obeyed. "Damn," he said, wincing as he saw the boy's face better. "She's your mother." This made the child sneer in disdain. "You can't change that. It's not worth getting hit for arguing about something you can't change. Okay?" The boy nodded reluctantly.

"Okay. Here," the man said as he handed the boy a brown paper bag. "I'll bring you something better after I get off of work. I put some pain medicine in there, too. It'll help a little. It's a different brand than I usually get for you so I wrote a note on how much to take and when to take it."

"Thanks, Robbie," the boy said. The man straightened up and gave the boy a very gentle pat on his head.

"Stop coddling him." A woman's voice called out from behind them. "Little asshole thinks he's too good for me. He needs to be brought down a few pegs."

Robbie ignored her and walked to an old sedan parked on the street in front of where the boy stood. He stopped and glared towards the house across the street for several seconds before slipping into the driver's seat. He started the car then leaned back, waiting for the woman.

The woman turned back to the door and twisted the knob to make sure it was locked. She pulled a compact out of her purse and admired her handiwork, tucking a sprig of heavily sprayed hair into place and giving herself an approving smile before snapping the compact closed and stuffing it back into the bag.

She walked down the steps to the boy and gave him one final hard smack to the back of his head. He stumbled forward a few steps before catching himself and straightening back up.

His mind immediately went to the pokemon. He desperately hoped the pichu would stay put, as there would be nothing he could do to save him should he try to intervene, but didn't dare glance over to check in case the motion gave away the pichu's hiding spot to the woman.

"You think your too good to be my son? You hate me so much you'll make up stories about a man you've never met?" the woman said.

The boy said nothing and stared straight ahead, trying to follow Robbie's advice. To keep himself from arguing with her, he clenched his hands so tightly it felt as if his knuckles would rip right through his skin. She noticed this. Smiling, she bent and spoke softly in his ear.

"Your father took off as soon as I told him he'd knocked me up. Never saw him again. He didn't want you. He'd laugh in your face if he were here now and heard some of the little stories you've come up with about him." The boy stayed silent and kept his face emotionless.

Robbie reached across the seat and roughly rolled down the passenger side window. "Tina, come on," he yelled. "You're going to make me late."

"All right," she yelled back at him. She almost started towards the car but stopped herself. "Oh." She fished around in her bag and held up three pokeballs beside the boy's face. When the boy didn't respond, she tapped one of them against his temple and offered him one last smile as she dropped them back in her purse and walked to the car.

The boy watched as they drove away. He could hear them arguing as the car moved down the street and even after it turned the corner and was out of sight.

His legs trembled and finally gave out, causing him to crumple to the ground.  _ Papa would never laugh at me _ , he thought. He tried to breathe to calm himself but a forceful, heaving sob escaped him instead. He clenched his teeth hard to prevent another sob from following the first but couldn't stop the tears from sliding down his cheeks.

The pichu called out to him causing the boy to quickly wipe at his face. He turned his head in time to see the pokemon had squeezed out of the woodpile and was running up to him. The pichu hesitated when he saw the boy's slick cheeks but then grabbed the child's wrist and pulled in the direction of the house.

The boy wearily looked towards where the pokemon wanted him to go. He pulled his arm free from the pichu and lifted his dingy t-shirt to finish drying his tears. He looked at the pichu when he felt the pokemon patting his arm.

"You want to get that ball for me," he said. He rubbed the back of his head with both hands trying to massage the newly added pain from the slap away, stopping when he came across a clump of hair that was matted with dried blood. The pichu nodded. "I guess you didn't see. She had it with her. She always takes it when she goes." The pichu's hopeful demeanor deflated instantly.

The boy watched this change in expression while he opened up the bag and reached for the bottle of medicine. He quickly looked over Robbie's note. He was too desperate for relief to take the time to measure it out, so he shook the bottle, as the note ordered, and took a big swig of the sugary syrup. The pichu's nose twitched when he smelled the sweetness of the medicine on the boy's breath.

"Hey, boy," a voice called out while the boy was putting the medicine back in the bag. His face twisted in disgust and irritation before he even looked up. The man across the street had stepped onto his porch. "Are you okay? She knocked you around pretty hard this time. Do you need some help?"

"No."

"Well, I just made some dinner," the man said. "It's gotta better than whatever Robbie packed in that bag for you. Why don't you come in here and have some with me?"

"He took the time to make this for me. It'd be rude not to eat it," the boy said.

A flicker of annoyance moved across the man's face. "At least let me help you get cleaned up," the man said, his words sounding a little more strained. "We can put some ice on that eye. I have some medicine I can put on those cuts, too."

"I'm fine. Thank you," the boy yelled back. He grabbed the bag and growled under his breath as he forced himself up then walked towards the house's left side with the pichu at his heels.

"We can share this food if you're hungry," the boy said, fully ignoring the man and focusing his full attention on the pichu.

The pichu's dour face instantly brightened at the offer. "That sounds nice," he said and he bounced excitedly beside the boy.

The boy took the pichu's excitement as a yes. "Alright. There's a river behind the house. Let's go eat down there," he said as he glanced back at the spot where he'd been standing.

He was supposed to stay there until the woman told him he could move. That was another punishment for arguing with her but he knew she wouldn't be back until much, much later and would be so drunk she wouldn't be able to tell if he was there or not and Robbie wouldn't enforce it after he came back from work. He also couldn't stand knowing the man across the street was most likely watching him.

The pichu trotted closely at the boy's side as he walked. "I hate him so much," the boy said. "Like I don't have enough to worry about…" He looked down at the pichu. "Stay away from that man. Even if he seems nice. Something's really wrong with him." His breaths were ragged from pain and now exertion making it even harder to understand him. The pichu tilted his ears to try and catch each of the boy's words.

"He's always trying to get me into his house for some reason. One time, he actually walked over here, grabbed my arm, and started pulling me across the street when I wouldn't come to him. Robbie saw and came flying out of the house, chased him down, and beat him up." The boy stopped walking, bent over, and put his hands on his knees to rest. After a few moments, the pichu heard a snicker come from him. "You should've heard him squealing and crying. He never tried that again." The boy lifted back up and kept walking.

Once they reached the neighboring house, the boy stopped and leaned his back against its side for another rest. He took in a few quick gasps to try to catch his breath and rubbed his belly as it gurgled. The medicine wasn't sitting well on his empty stomach.

"I've had to stand out there like that a lot. It used to be all night when she stayed home before Robbie came," the boy continued as he peeked back at the man's house. The man still stood there staring. The boy narrowed his eyes and stared right back in his direction until the man backed down and retreated into his house.

"He's really strange. He has people visit him all the time. Usually, they're so drunk he has to drag them inside. Some he actually carries into his house. I'm out here a lot and I never see any of them leave. It's weird."

The boy looked at the pichu and noticed concern on the pokemon's face. "He's crazy if he thinks I'm ever going in there," he said, pushing off the house and slowly continuing his trek.

The pichu was about to follow but looked back to the man's house. The boy might not have been able to see the man watching them from one his front windows but with the pichu's keen eyesight, he could.

_ Vile _ , he thought before turning and following behind the boy. He felt a mix of worry, protectiveness of the boy, and joy rise up within him as he stared at the child.  _ What a mess this is... _ He shook his head but then smiled.  _ At least I'm close to finding one of them. Father will be so happy. _

They continued down a worn path. On its left side sat an overgrown, scraggly blackberry bush. The boy glanced at it as he did every time he walked the path. There were berry bushes that grew back home on his family's place. He and his brothers would snack on them while they played outside whenever the bushes were in fruit. He wished this one held some sweet, plump berries to share with the pichu but unfortunately it was too early in the year for that and the bush was instead covered in tiny pale purple buds.

They passed the bush and kept walking until they came under the shade of a gigantic maple tree that stood behind the neighboring house. The boy admired the silver undersides of its leaves and the dark blue sky that occasionally peeked through the foliage as the wind moved through the tree's branches and caused its canopy to sway peacefully.

"Isn't that pretty," he asked the pichu, who nodded in agreement. "I love this big, old grandpa tree." He walked into the yard past the tree's strong, proud trunk to a shed which sat under it.

Between the shed and the remains of a garden plot that laid closer to the house was an old water hydrant. Somehow, despite the house seeming to have been abandoned for years and years, the hydrant still worked.

The pichu walked under the faucet to examine it as the boy tossed the bag onto the grass away from them. "Might want to move." The boy grabbed the handle. "If I pull this up, cold water comes out of here fast," he said, pointing to the spout. The pichu backed away quickly, keeping his curious eyes on the hydrant. The boy lifted the handle all the way up and grinned when the water roared out and caused the pichu to jump.

He lowered the pressure, bent down, and put his mouth to the stream, drinking deeply to rid himself of the taste of blood in his mouth. He then cupped his hands, gathered some water in them, and carefully rinsed his face. He repeated this several times while his companion watched and finished up by scrubbing the water over his hands and arms.

"Better?" He asked, looking at the pokemon.

_ He looks worse now without the blood to distract from the bruises and swelling _ , the pichu thought but he kept his face blank and nodded.

The boy examined his hair to find the dried blood he had felt earlier. He thought about leaving it as his hair was already a dark red which would make the blood not too noticeable and mostly because he didn't feel like bending over again or having cold water hit his sore head but he decided against it. He pulled the hydrant's handle down to lower the water pressure even more and put his head under to scrub the mat out.

As he finished, he noticed the pichu had moved closer to the water and was stretched out on all fours towards the stream, carefully watching it. He stood and gripped the handle, ready to increase the pressure when the pichu got close enough but the pichu was a quick-witted and observant pokemon and noticed this instantly. He smirked at the boy and wagged a paw at him. The boy offered a half smirk of his own and dropped his hand.

The pichu walked to the water. He held his paws up under the stream and smiled as the water splashed onto his pads. He stretched his tongue out and lapped at it. He then walked under it, letting it fall over his head.

The boy lifted the handle to make it come out just a bit harder and laughed when the pichu launched away from the hydrant and gave him an amused, wide-eyed stare.

The playful and mischievous grin the boy wore tickled the pichu. He growled and bucked then ran under the stream of water. He circled back and flew under it again. He did this a few more times, zig-zagging quickly around the yard while letting loose loud, dramatic growls each time he turned which made the boy laugh even harder before stopping to take one more drink and letting it pour over his head and back. He finally walked out from under the hydrant and shook.

"Feels good, huh?" the boy asked, rubbing his forehead with his fingers and squinting his eyes in pain. The laugh felt nice but had made his head throb. The pichu nodded. The cool water had felt wonderful to him.

The boy turned the water off, grabbed the bag, and led the pokemon back to the path. After a few minutes of walking down a slight hill, they reached the bank of the river.

The boy lowered himself to the ground and pushed the wet hair on his forehead to the side with his fingers. He let out a relieved little sigh as he felt the medicine starting to dull the pain slightly.

He opened the bag Robbie had given him and removed a sandwich, a bag of chips, and a can of soda. "You ready for dinner?" he said. The pichu perked up and nodded quickly.

The boy peeled the plastic wrap away from the sandwich and lifted one of the bread slices to examine the contents. "Ham and cheese. Good." He tore it in half and gave one side to the pichu.

The pokemon sniffed at it and his tail wagged in excitement. He was about to devour it but remembered the pain on the boy's face when he had doubled over earlier. He looked up at the boy who noticed his worried look.

"Go ahead. I don't mind sharing with you. Actually, I'm happy I have someone to eat with. It feels like it's been forever. Robbie's going to bring more food later, anyway," he said while opening the bag of chips and setting it on the ground in front of them. He then popped the top of the can of soda and placed that down as well.

The fizziness of the can caused the pichu to lean towards it. He cocked his head back and forth as he listened to the can hiss.

"Be careful drinking that," the boy said. "It tastes good but it'll burn if you drink it too fast."

The pichu set his half of the sandwich down and lifted the can with his front paws, sniffing at it and shaking his head when the carbonated bubbles popped against his nose. The boy reached over to help steady the can but dropped his hand when he saw the pichu was managing fine. The pokemon's eyes quivered after he took a couple of gulps of the ice cold liquid. He quickly placed the can down and pawed at his snout. The boy held back a grin as he watched.

The two sat there for a short time in silence after they had eaten. The boy outwardly appeared to be calmly watching the river's slow movement but instead, he was fuming over what had happened earlier in the day.

"Boy," he said after a few minutes. It came out as a snarl which caused the pichu, who had been busy licking his paws and cleaning his face, to snap his head in the boy's direction. The boy ripped his eyes off the river and frowned at the pichu. "That's what she calls me. That woman says I don't have a name because she never cared enough to give me one but that's not true at all. I do have a name. It's Luka." The pichu's surprised face turned confused.

"She's horrible," Luka continued. "She yells at me and hits me all the time. Well, not as much now that Robbie's here but it's still a lot. She makes me go steal things and if I don't come back with something good, I have to stand out there until she tells me I can move. I hate it. I have to walk all the way out of the slums to get to a part of the city where there's anything worth taking." The anger on the boy's face dissipated and was replaced with strain. "It's a long way to walk and I'm always worried she'll think I've run away and hurt that pokemon. I don't understand. What was the point of taking me if she's just going to treat me like this?"

His whole body seemed to sag in defeat and hopelessness and he turned away from the pichu. The pichu walked closer to him and patted his back. The boy tried to offer the pokemon an appreciative smile but he couldn't manage it and turned back to the river.

Luka's eyebrows raised in surprise as he looked out onto the water. His rant had attracted the attention of a slowpoke who was lazily floating on the river's surface a little ways away from the bank staring at him. He had never seen one this close up the river. He watched it bob with the water's movement for a while before turning back to the pichu.

"Do you have a family?" Luka asked. The pichu nodded. The boy's face fell slightly. A part of him wished the pichu was alone so maybe he would stay with him but he knew how dangerous his situation was and was worried for the pokemon's safety if he stayed. He forced his own feelings down and spoke again.

"You should go back to them, then." The pichu only stared at him so he continued. "I'm going to be okay," he said with a nod. "Family is the most important thing in the world. You can't worry them. You have to go back."

The pichu's lips curled in amusement at the thought of the thrashing and lectures he would receive if he went back to his father after taking off like he did. He looked at the river and also saw the slowpoke, who was now paddling quickly after what he guessed was a fish.

The pichu shook his head. "You can't go back? Did you have a fight with them?" Luka asked. The pichu shook his head again and considered for a moment how to tell the boy about his problem. He looked at the dirt they were sitting on and drew a few letters in it with his paw.

"You can write?" The boy asked, incredulously. The pichu looked up and smiled. Luka covered his eye and leaned down. "Looking for-" the boy read. The pichu drew the faces of a vulpix and growlithe. Luka frowned and his eyes lingered on the growlithe.

"You left your family to look for those two? Are they your friends?" The pichu shook his head again and wrote more. "Uncles." The pichu nodded and continued to write. "I want to find them for my father," Luka read. He looked at the pichu. There was dread forming inside of him. This was feeling uncomfortably familiar.

"Did someone take them away?" He asked. The pichu's face turned furious. His lips contorted into a grimace, exposing his sharp canines. He drew a giant R and then raked his paw through the faces he had drawn, leaving a set of claw marks through them. Luka looked at the letter and then the faces somberly. "Team Rocket took them..."

This was very bad news and Luka didn't know how to respond to it. Instead of trying, he looked away from the pichu and fixed his gaze across the river where he could see Goldenrod's famous department store towering above the trees and surrounding buildings on the other side.

The pichu patted the boy's knee to get his attention and set about writing again. He watched intently as the boy read the words.

-do you think i can find them-

Luka stared at the words then looked at the pichu and spoke with a gentleness that surprised the pokemon.

"Of course. You should never give up. I won't lie to you, though. It'll be very hard." He looked back at the house. Because of the unkempt backyard and how far the river's bank was from it, he could only see the tip top of the roof and chimney.

"Don't get excited, okay?" The pichu nodded. "That pokemon I told you the woman took away from me was a growlithe." The pichu looked unsurprised.

"You already knew?" Luka asked.

"I was hoping it was him," the pichu said. "I caught his scent near here. Very faintly but I definitely smelled him." He tapped his nose hoping the boy would understand.

"You smelled him here?" Luka said.

_ Smart boy _ , the pichu thought, smiling.

"Was it near the street? In the little ditch by the electric pole?" Luka asked. The pichu nodded. "Wow. You have a great nose on you. That happened months ago."

"Anyway, that growlithe was never mine. I found his ball in that spot. She was always having people over before Robbie started living here. One of them must have had his ball and dropped it there without realizing."

Luka's brow furrowed and he became quiet, not knowing exactly how to explain what had happened. He was afraid the pokemon would think badly of him for the mess he had made. The pichu noticed the boy's face grow increasingly stressed and patted his arm. He couldn't look the pichu in the eye and instead fixed his eyes on the ground in front of him.

"I was stupid," he said, starting off slowly. "I saw the ball on the ground and thought the pokemon inside could help me get away from here."

"I released the pokemon but he was hurt. Three of his legs were tied together and he had a bunch of cuts all over him. He was really mad, too. I tried to get him to go back into the ball so I could hide it but he wouldn't listen to me when I warned him about her. He tried to bite me instead but he had a tight muzzle on so he couldn't."

"She noticed us and used her pokemon to beat him. He was so weak from being hurt and he couldn't move because of his legs so he went down easily."

Luka looked at the pichu. Shame and guilt heavy on his face. "I should've waited to open that ball. I should've tried to hide it." The boy shook his head in disbelief. "She was standing right out there. I can't believe I did something so dumb. It's my fault she has your uncle now. I'm so sorry."

The pichu frowned at the boy's distress. He raised his front legs in the air and motioned for Luka to come closer with one of his paws. The boy did so, leaning his forehead on the pokemon's chest. He closed his eyes when he felt the pichu grip his head tightly and pet his hair.

They stayed like this for a short time until the boy pulled back. "Thanks," he said, offering the pichu a little smile. The pichu gave him a warm smile in return but then looked at the house with determination and began walking towards it. "No!" Luka launched forward, grabbed the pokemon by his front legs, and quickly swiveled him around to face him.

"Don't be idiotic," the boy said. The pichu was so surprised by Luka's now harsh tone and fierce look that he could only stare at him. "She has a graveler and a granbull. It's not a fight you can win. I already got that growlithe hurt worse than he already was because I didn't think. I am not going to let that happen again with you."

Luka released him. "You can't do anything anyway. She's gone and she always takes the ball with her." The pichu had forgotten this and rubbed his head with his paws then sat down and looked at the boy.

"We have to be patient and wait for the right time, okay?" The boy's voice was a little gentler this time but he still wore a fearsome look. The pichu nodded. "We have to be careful. I don't want you to get caught by her. I can't handle things getting worse than they are now."

The pichu looked at the boy's swollen and bruised cheek. "This is nothing," Luka said, gesturing at his face. "It's my fault she found him. I won't leave here until he can leave, too. I can deal with this."

The severe look on the boy's face faltered and faded away. "I'm sorry I grabbed you like that and talked to you in that mean voice," he said. "Did I hurt your legs?" The pichu shook his head. "I think I panicked a little. I just don't want you to get hurt." The boy's face grew stern again. "Your uncle wouldn't want you to get yourself in trouble trying to save him. Remember that if you ever get it into your mind to do something stupid like that again."

The boy's chastising tone amused the pichu and he smiled at him before looking back at the house.  _ Please be okay, uncle. Just hold on _ , the pichu thought.  _ Father's going to be furious when he finds out about this. That woman better hope we find a way out of here ourselves and he doesn't show up while looking for me. _ The pichu grinned, hoping the latter would happen.

He turned back to the boy who had been staring up at the leaves of the big maple tree. The pichu regarded him for a while. Feeling the pichu's eyes on him made Luka feel awkward and he eventually glared back at the pichu. The pichu chuckled at the boy's angry face.

"I like you," the pokemon said. "You're a tough little nut. Smart and brave, too, with a good character. I wouldn't mind having you as my trainer."

Luka pouted. "I'm sorry. I can't understand."

The pichu dropped to all fours. He hopped around and attacked as if there was an invisible enemy in front of him while letting loose snaps and crackles of electricity. It made the hair on Luka's arms raise and his skin feel tingly. The boy watched the pokemon's mock fight as he rubbed his arms. He was impressed by the pichu's quick movements and the control and power behind his attacks.

"You want to fight?" Luka asked. The pichu stood back up and nodded then held both paws out in front of him and acted as if he was eating something.

"A... hamburger? Oh, you like human food," the boy said. The pichu made a joyful sound and nodded quickly. Luka shook his head and laughed.

The pokemon wrote the word 'trainer' in the dirt and pointed at him. Luka stared at the word.

He wanted to protest. To tell the pokemon it wouldn't be safe. He could get hurt. That there would be times they'd have to go without food. That he didn't have a clue about how to get out of this mess and didn't know how long they'd be stuck here. He opened his mouth but the words wouldn't come. He had been lonely and miserable for so long. He didn't want the pokemon to leave him.

"I'd like that," he finally managed to say.

The pichu walked over to him and put his front paws on Luka's thigh. He nosed at the boy's arm until he lifted it and crawled onto his new trainer's lap and stretched out.

Luka forced a laugh despite the stress and worry he was feeling. "Why didn't you just write that to begin with?" He leaned to the side to better see the pichu's face. "Are you a show-off?" The pichu smiled widely. Luka laughed again. He straightened up and ran his hand over the pichu's head and down his side.

"When we get away from here, we'll bring your uncle to a pokemon center. We'll make sure he gets back to your papa when he gets better. I'll help you look for your other uncle, too," the boy said. A quick thought ran through his mind that his papa could help. He worked for the government and he had many run-ins with Team Rocket. Maybe he or one of his coworkers had come across and injured vulpix and that could help them track the pokemon down.

He began to tear up while thinking about his papa. He wanted him so badly. The pichu sensed the sudden change in the boy and glanced back at him.

"What's wrong, bud?" The pichu asked. He lifted up on his front legs and rubbed his forehead against Luka's cheek.

The boy pushed the thoughts of his father out of his mind. "It's nothing. I'm okay," he said, his voice strained and a little bit higher pitched than normal. The pichu gave the boy a concerned smile. He lay back down and continued to watch the boy.

"You have to promise me something," Luka said after he had regained his composure. "You don't go near that woman. No matter what you see her do to me. Stay away from her. Don't let her see you either." The pichu's smile disappeared. "You have to trust my judgment if you want me to be your trainer. Promise," Luka demanded, looking forcefully into the pichu's eyes. The smile came back and the pichu gave him a nod. "Good." The pichu felt the boy's body relax as he let out a sigh.

"How did you learn to write?" Luka asked as his eyes scanned all the words his pokemon had written in the dirt. The pichu leaned halfway out of Luka's lap and pointed to where he had scrawled the word 'father' before laying back down. "Your papa taught you. That's really neat." He looked down at the pokemon as he ran his fingers through the pichu's black mane. He filled the boy's whole lap to the point where his back legs hung off a little.

"You're really big for a pichu. I think you might be a little bigger than a pikachu even," Luka marveled. "You're going to be huge when you're fully evolved. I bet you're going to be really strong, too."

The pichu nodded. "My father is big and strong," he said. "Most of his children got that from him. I wish he were here. This problem would be nothing for him."

Luka nodded politely at the pichu's chatter. "I don't have a pokeball for you," the boy said after a while, stroking the short fur between the pichu's ears causing the pokemon's eyes to start to close and his head to rock with the movement of the boy's hand.

"I guess that doesn't matter too much right now. But you do need a name. A pokemon partner has to have a name," Luka said as his hand moved to the side and he rubbed one of the pichu's ears between his fingers. The pichu looked back at him. His almond-shaped eyes were half-lidded and contentment had settled on his face.

"There's a book I had a long time ago that I loved. The main character's name is Johann. He's a big, strong, mountain of a man. Just like you're a big, strong, mountain of a pichu." Luka let out a breathy laugh. The pichu laughed along with him. "He's cocky but also very smart and kind and he takes care of all the people and pokemon he's close to. Johann. Do you like that name?"

"I do, Luka," Johann said with a nod.

Luka smiled and gave the pichu a gentle squeeze. "Johann it is, then."


	2. Sigge

Luka walked down the street, passing the faded stop sign that led out of the neighborhood where the woman’s house was located. If you can call a stretch of road where the majority of homes were abandoned and falling apart a neighborhood.

He kept his gaze downward at the cracked, uneven pavement and listened to Johann’s footfalls in the brush beside the road as he walked.

The woman had sent him out to steal again. He dreaded the long trip ahead of him, absentmindedly tugging on the bill of the ball cap she always made him wear to make him less recognizable.

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want,” he said, keeping his eyes downcast. “I can do this myself. There’s no need to drag you into it.” Luka’s lips pulled into a smile as he pictured the irritated look the pichu most likely wore now.

“You have to be tired of walking through all those backyards and then that bit of forest to meet up here just so she won’t see you. The grass is pretty thick back there. It can’t be easy. You could be napping in the shed right now.”

The boy stopped walking. He knew they were far enough away from the house to be out of the woman’s sight by now. He turned to his right and waited. When the pichu emerged from the grass wearing just the scowl he had imagined, he laughed.

“Do you have to say that every single time?” Johann said, slapping his front paw on the road with almost every word to get his irritation across. “I’m coming and that’s it.”

“Okay. I’ll stop,” Luka said and began walking again. “It’s just... I know stealing is wrong and I don’t want you to have to do it, too.” The boy paused and a look of earnestness came upon his face.

“Isn’t it better to steal than let something get hurt or killed?” He said, looking at Johann for reassurance. The pokemon already had his friendly smile back and gave him a confident nod which made the child feel better.

It had been three weeks since the two had first met. Luka’s bruises had healed and his face wasn’t a swollen mess anymore. He wasn’t in any pain except for a slightly hungry belly.

The woman’s verbal onslaught was neverending but she hadn’t touched him since the day he met Johann. The boy figured Robbie must have threatened her. The two had gotten into a fierce fight that night when they both got back. For his part, he had done his best to keep quiet and not talk back as the man had instructed and it seemed to be helping.

The road they walked led to a small, makeshift business district for this area of the slums. It held a gas station with one working pump, a general store where the older residents gathered to visit early in the morning, and a pub where almost everyone piled in to let loose and relax at night.

Luka never bothered to steal anything from the people around here. They were all poor. More importantly, they were all nice to him. The store and bar owners would occasionally give him food out of pity due to him being just a bit thin and no one ever bothered him when the woman sent him out with money to buy things for her even though he would’ve been an easy target before Johann came along.

As the two approached the store, they could see the early morning crowd already assembled on its front porch. Robbie was there, as well. Something the store owner said tickled him and he was laughing.

One of the men noticed the pair approaching and raised his hand. “Hey there, boy. Hello, Johann,” he called. Luka responded with a polite nod and Johann rose up on his hind legs so he could wave back.

“Morning, you two,” the store owner said. He reached behind him and gave the store’s screen door a couple of sharp raps with his middle knuckle.

“Good morning,” Luka said, watching as one of the older men bent over in his chair and ran a rough hand over Johann’s head and down his back.

Robbie leaned over the porch’s railing and regarded him with a sad smile. “Early morning, huh?”

“Yeah,” Luka said as he pet the store owner’s houndour who laid at the foot of the store’s porch steps. The pokemon’s stubby little tail wagged in appreciation.

Robbie straightened up and fished a little money out of his pocket, holding it out to the boy.

“Here. Get something to eat,” he said, motioning his head towards the store.

Luka thanked him, took the money, and was about to make his way up the steps but the store owner’s wife stepped out of the store with a smile and handed him a bag.

“Thank you,” Luka said, handing her the money Robbie had given him.

“You’re very welcome,” she said.

Luka gave her and her husband a grateful smile and walked back toward the road, waving towards the group. Johann walked behind him, eyes locked on the bag of food the boy held in his hand.

“You leaving already, boy?” One of the men asked.

“Yes, sir. We have a long way to walk,” Luka said and then turned to look at Robbie.

“Thanks,” he said, holding up the bag. Robbie nodded and then looked confused.

“That looks pretty full. I didn’t have enough money in my pocket to cover all that.”

“I put a little extra in there for them,” the woman said.

“Damn. I wish I was a cute, little kid so I could get free food,” Robbie said with a laugh. Luka smiled. “Be careful out there.”

“I will,” the boy said. He turned and began walking again, throwing up his hand in one final wave.

He held the bag in one arm as he walked and pulled out a sausage biscuit then peeled back the plastic wrapping and handed it to Johann.

The boy unwrapped his own and was about to take a bite but stopped when he noticed Johann. Even though the pichu’s mouth was latched around his own food, his eyes were focused intently on the biscuit in Luka’s hand.

“Johann.” The boy said sternly. The pokemon’s wide, unblinking, almost feral eyes flicked to Luka’s. Luka laughed when he saw the muscles on the Johann back twitch madly.

“Stop that. You and food...” the boy said. Johann smiled around the biscuit in his mouth and made his eyes even wider which sent the boy into a fit of giggles.

“Don’t make me laugh. I might drop mine.”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Johann said.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? You’re so greedy when it comes to food.” Luka regarded him with a playful sneer. “Well, you’re out of luck. I’d eat mine even if it fell on the ground and got dirt all over it.” Johann chuckled.

Luka took a bite. While he chewed, he looked through the bag the store owner’s wife had given him.

“She gave us some hash browns and a pack of those muffins we like so much. There’s milk, too. Let me know when you want a drink.”

They continued on for close to an hour. Luka, from his many times of traveling into the busy part of Goldenrod, had found all the paths that would cut as much time out of the trip as possible. Johann was still very impressed with the boy’s good memory and navigation skills even after going out with him several times.

When they got into a more active part of the city, they wandered around looking for anything they could easily snatch that wouldn’t draw attention from any person or pokemon near them.

They found a bit of money on the ground near a street cart. A single golden earring on a curb. A small tape player left forgotten on a bench near a bus stop.

The trip would’ve been a bust but while cutting behind a few stores, they came across a truck transporting alcohol stock.

Luka waited for the man who was unloading the truck to go into the store before quickly grabbing one of the bottles out of its box and running away.

When they had gotten far enough from the truck, the boy looked at the fancy bottle. It was very familiar to him.

“Skip’s Midnight Reserve,” the boy said, reading the label. He smiled at the bottle’s embossed depiction of an umbreon dancing under a full moon and blanket of stars and rubbed his finger over the pokemon’s joyful face and down to the slight feathering on the back of its forelegs.

This was his grandfather’s favorite whiskey. Whenever the man had close friends over or there was any special occasion, this is what he’d serve.

“She doesn’t deserve to have this,” Luka muttered, hugging it close to his chest.

He frowned a bit and added the bottle to the backpack. Other than a pang of sadness from remembering his grandpa and disgust that the woman would be drinking his whiskey, he felt a little relieved. The liquor would make her happy. He wouldn’t get yelled at or possibly slapped around later.

“Let’s head back, Johann,” the boy said. They cut across an intersection and through another alleyway before the two came to a stop.

In the distance, there was a van with its back door pulled up parked close to a store’s rear entrance. There were a few crates filled with straw in the back, each held an egg nestled inside and held down securely with a layer of netting, and several empty ones scattered on the pavement behind the van. A man was busy carrying them into the store.

“That’s Bachmann’s. I recognize the logo on the van. They’re the best breeder out there,” Luka said. “Their eggs are popular to give to rich kids as their first pokemon. They’re very, very expensive but they’re worth it because the babies come from excellent stock.” Luka looked at Johann. “I don’t really know what that means but that’s what I’ve heard,” he said.

He knew about the breeder because several of his immediate and extended family members had Bachmann pokemon. He remembered that he was supposed to receive one himself but the woman had taken him the week before that was set to happen.

Luka and Johann watched as the worker lifted the last one and both gasped when they saw the man’s foot hit the corner of a discarded pile of crates, which caused him to stumble.

Luka placed his hands on the sides of his forehead in a halfhearted attempt to cover his eyes as he watched the egg tip out of the crate and slip through a corner of its netting that had come loose during transport. It hit the pavement with a hard thwack and rolled a bit before stopping.

The man dropped the crate and ran to the egg. He cursed before grabbing it and walking to the store’s nearest dumpster. He tossed the egg inside and covered it over with some broken-down boxes then ran back to the van, threw the empty crates inside, slammed down the door, and climbed behind the wheel. Johann shook his head as he watched the van drive away.

“How could he do that? No one will find it there. It’ll die for sure.” Luka said, horrified.

He almost didn’t want to see how bad it must look to make the man react as he did but he couldn’t leave it in the garbage. Johann had already set off towards the dumpster. Luka ran after him.

Once he got there, he jumped, grabbed the edge of the dumpster, and pulled himself up. Johann jumped up as well. Luka balanced on the top of the dumpster’s front wall and pushed the boxes off the egg.

“Oh, no,” Luka groaned. A large portion of the side of the egg was dented in and covered in a spiderweb of cracks.

Johann carefully navigated atop the garbage and walked to the egg.

 _No wonder he took off_ , he thought as he examined it. It’s in bad shape. He sniffed the egg and rubbed his paws around the perimeter of the cracks to check for leakage and let out a relieved breath when he found it was dry.

“What do I do?” Luka said, staring at the egg. “Should I bring it to the store and tell them what happened? What if they throw it away, too? No one would pay a lot of money for a damaged egg.”

He leaned forward and rested his hands on the unbroken ends of the egg, frowning when he felt its warmth. He considered placing it in his bag and bringing it back with them.

“I don’t know how to take care of a baby,” he said, in response to the thought.

Johann patted his chest. “You do?” The pichu nodded. Luka stared at the pokemon’s assured face then slowly nodded as well. “Okay...”

Johann’s face turned serious. He pointed to his muzzle and made a sucking motion with his mouth.

“Milk.” The boy frowned. “It’ll need milk.” He thought for a moment. “I don’t think we found enough money to buy any. I’ll ask Robbie if he can get us some. I’m sure he will.”

 _Hopefully, it won’t hatch before the next time we see him,_ Luka thought as he pulled the backpack off and unzipped it. He took out its contents, and with a little trouble, very carefully lifted the heavy egg and held it for a moment.

“Carrying this back is going to be hard,” he said.

Johann was frowning now as he watched Luka’s little arms quiver under the weight of the egg. _Can he do it?_ He thought. _He’s so small._

Johann motioned to the cracked part and pointed up then walked to the bag and held it open. Luka nodded and lowered the egg into the bag, leaning it on its side and making sure to position it so the damaged side faced up then put the smaller items he had stolen in the bag’s front pocket.

“There.” He looked at the bottle of whiskey. The egg was already filling the majority of space in the bag. He couldn’t put the heavy bottle in there with it, but he had to bring something good back to the woman to avoid getting punished.

He zipped the bag and turned to lower it to the ground but froze when he saw how far it was from where he sat.

Johann was about to jump down himself but noticed the boy was now leaning close to the dumpster, gripping it tightly with his eyes squeezed closed.

“Luka?” He patted the boy’s head. The only response was a low, pained moan. He was alarmed now and said the boy’s name louder. Luka didn’t move. Johann smacked him with his paw. It was enough to snap the boy out of his frozen state.

He looked at Johann. Johann pointed down. Luka nodded and slowly lowered the bag onto the pavement.

Johann would’ve laughed if it wasn’t for the boy’s wide, fearful eyes. _It’s not even that high up,_ he thought as he hopped down and drug Luka’s bag away to give him a clear place to land.

Luka tucked the bottle under his arm, kept his iron grip on the dumpster with one hand, and slung his legs down. He dangled there for a minute before Johann spoke again.

“Let go, buddy.” He covered his mouth with his paws to keep from laughing at the poor child.

Luka glanced over his shoulder at him, wide-eyed and fearful. Johann made his face stern and pointed at the store’s open back door.

The man had forgotten to close it in his rush to get away. Realizing that at any moment someone from inside might see the open door and come to investigate, Luka let go and dropped to the ground with a pitiful little whine.

Once down, he wasted no time. He pulled the bag onto his back, groaning and swaying as he did. He had to lean forward just to offset the egg’s weight and avoid tipping backward.

“I can’t walk around out on the street holding this,” he said, giving the bottle a frustrated shake.

Johann once again pointed at the door. Luka looked at it, nodded, and the two took off.

At the end of the alley, Luka stopped to rest a bit and peered out onto the sidewalk.

“There’s only one more busy area we need to get through before we’ll be away from all these people,” Luka said.

He slipped the alcohol under his shirt and hugged his arms around himself to hide the bottle’s shape the best he could.

“Stay close,” he ordered as he stepped out onto the sidewalk.

Johann trotted to match the boy’s quick pace as he made for the intersection. The traffic had just started to move when they stepped up to the crosswalk so Luka took that as a chance for another rest. After a short time, he was about to push the button to walk but a hand reached over his head and pushed it for him.

He peeked around to see who the hand belonged to and caught the curious gaze of a gentleman who had stepped up beside him. He almost flinched when he felt a big hand rest atop his cap and watched warily as the man bent to get a better look at him.

One of his uncles had snowy white hair. This man did as well and it kept the boy’s attention, causing him to stare at the man instead of looking away and ignoring him as the boy would usually do with overly curious people.

Despite his white hair, he wasn’t an old man. He was approaching middle age and was tall and muscular. He looked strong.

He was put together with a well-groomed beard, hair combed into a side part, and was dressed smartly in a very nice looking suit.

The two things Luka took note of the most were his kind and concerned eyes, and how even bending over, he towered above him. The man reminded him a little of his father. His father was tall, too, and this man even had the same brown eyes he and his father shared.

He frowned deeply at the sudden reminder of his papa but caught himself, took in a sharp breath, and straightened his face. As he looked away from the man, his eyes went to the man’s espeon who stood opposite of him on the man’s other side.

The pokemon stared at him blankly. The sun hit the orb on its forehead just right causing it to shimmer a lovely deep red.

Luka looked straight ahead again, trying his best to ignore the man and his pokemon. He had seen the worry in the man’s eyes and didn’t want to alarm him any further. He didn’t need anyone being nosey right now.

He failed, however. The man had seen how strained the boy looked and the quick flash of grief that had just moved across his face. He was even more concerned now.

“Are you okay, lad?” The man asked.

“Yes, sir.”

The man looked at the boy’s backpack and how much trouble he was having shouldering it. His eyes then went to Johann briefly as the pichu strutted toward him before looking back to Luka.

Johann rubbed against his leg. His goal was to draw the man’s attention from Luka onto himself as people would always marvel at his size when they first met him but it didn’t work. The man did remove his hand from Luka’s head to stroke Johann but he kept his eyes on the boy.

“It looks like you’re carrying a heavy load. Do you need some help?” the man asked.

Luka was very relieved when the signal changed. He clicked his tongue, calling Johann back, and set off immediately. He didn’t want to be rude to the nice man so he turned slightly to look at him as he walked.

“I can handle it. Thanks for asking,” he said politely, flashing a forced smile that faltered a bit when he saw that the man wasn’t buying it.

He turned away from him and hurried across the street wishing desperately that he could turn right around and go back to the man, tell him everything about his situation, and give him the egg to deal with. Instead, he hung his head, locked his eyes on the road in front of him, and pushed forward.

Once they stepped foot on the sidewalk, they weaved through the crowd of people and pokemon and disappeared into another alley, trying to put some space between them and the man just in case he was worried enough to follow them.

The way back was miserable for Luka. The weight was too much for him and he had to stop many times to rest, which made the trip take much longer than usual.

Johann encouraged him each time he stopped with a pat on his leg or by butting him with his forehead and at one point, he chased off a couple of curious sentret that had taken to following them a little too close for his liking.

Luka was glad the group that gathered in front of the store in the morning would have left by now. He wouldn’t have known how to answer any questions about the tightly packed bag on his back, why he was panting so hard, or why he could barely walk without stumbling.

He slowed when he neared the stop sign. After several gasps to catch his breath, instead of continuing down the street that would eventually lead to the house, he cut off to the left into the woods that lined the road. Once they were deep enough that Luka was sure no one would be able to see, he placed the bag on the ground and knelt down.

He removed the liquor from under his shirt. He then grasped the egg and eased it out of the bag, replacing it with the alcohol. Luka stood again, wobbling a bit. He steadied himself and looked at Johann.

“I’m going to give these things we found to her. I want you to stay with the egg.”

“Will do,” Johann said and settled down snug beside it.

“I’ll come get you two as soon as I can,” Luka said.

He turned in the direction of the house and scowled fiercely then exited the woods and stepped back onto the road. He held his head up and forced himself to walk normally the rest of the way.

The woman had noticed him approaching and was waiting for him in the open doorway.

“You better have gotten something good,” she said, taking the bag from him. “You were gone for a long time.”

Luka said nothing while she opened it. Her eyes widened when she saw the whiskey. She examined the rest of what he had gotten looking far less impressed.

“This stuff is garbage. You better be glad you got that liquor,” she said. She turned around and went back into the house, shutting the door in his face.

Luka let out a relieved sigh as he descended the steps and walked to the path that led down to the river. He followed it, making a quick stop at the shed to grab a blanket that Robbie had given him, and then found the small trail of pushed down grass that Johann had been using to cut through the backyards.

He walked as quickly as he could through the thick, tall brush, thinking about how hard this must be for Johann with his shorter legs. After a while, he had made it through the two adjacent yards and had gotten to the edge of the woods.

Walking would be a little easier now but he hoped he wouldn’t draw the attention of the aipom that lived in the area. He knew Johann had a few run-ins with them when he cut through here. He had “knocked them straight out of the trees” as Johann had put it when they had tried to mess with him but Luka was all alone and helpless. He quickened his pace.

Johann eyed the boy carefully when he came into view, looking for any blood or welts and smiled when he didn’t see any. Luka smiled back.

“I made it,” the boy announced, trying to sound triumphant but his voice only came out weak and weary.

Johann patted his face while looking intently at Luka’s. The boy’s brow furrowed.

“What?” Luka asked. He touched his face. It felt hot and slick with sweat. “Oh. Is my face red?”

Johann nodded. _He’s pushing himself too hard_ , he thought.

Luka shook his head and waved him off. “Don’t worry. I’m fine,” he said, spreading the blanket out.

He squatted down and was about to lift the egg when Johann grabbed the boy’s arm. Luka paused to look at the pokemon’s concerned face.

“I’m okay. I can rest when we get back to the shed. I can’t be away from the house for too long now that she knows I’m back. If she calls for me and I’m not there to answer, she might hurt your uncle.”

Johann grimaced but nodded and let the boy go.

“You’re a great little kid, you know?” Johann said, smiling sweetly at him.

Luka smiled back. He touched his forehead to Johann’s and rubbed them together.

 _He’s so cute,_ the pokemon thought.

The boy placed the egg in the middle of the blanket. He grabbed the ends, hefted it over his shoulder, then made his way back to the shed.

Once he reached it, he laid the egg down beside the shed’s back wall and pulled off his cap, tossing it down as well. He then wiped the sweat from his face and headed straight to the hydrant.

He felt a bit of life return to him after a long drink and some water splashed on his face. Once he got back to the egg, he collapsed beside it and kicked his shoes and socks off. He and Johann sat in silence while the boy tried to recover from his exertion.

Johann took that time to think about the earlier events of the trip and smiled when he thought about the boy’s little panic attack on top of the dumpster.

“Scared of being up high, huh?” He wrote.

Luka pouted and quickly brushed Johann’s words away with his hand. He then crossed his arms and looked away.

Johann watched this little outburst with wide eyes. He’d never seen the boy act childish like this.

A little snort of laughter escaped the pichu. He slapped his paw over his mouth and trembled while trying to keep his amusement contained. A few more snorts and giggles came from him before a long, loud chortle escaped him.

“What was that?” he wrote. He grabbed Luka’s upper arm with his front legs and leaned his head on the boy’s chest, laughing even louder when he saw an embarrassed and slightly irritated smile form on the boy’s face.

“I just have problems with heights is all,” Luka said after Johann finished laughing. “It’s embarrassing.”

Johann shook his head. “Nah, that’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he wrote.

“Hanging off the front of a dumpster because I was too afraid to jump down isn’t embarrassing?” Luka asked and smiled wider when Johann started laughing again. “I don’t even have to be that high up. I just freeze.”

“Well, it was brave of you to jump up on that dumpster then,” Johann wrote.

“I didn’t have a choice. The pokemon in here would’ve died for sure if we hadn’t helped it.” Luka said, bending over to examine the egg.

“It looks really bad but nothing’s leaking out. That’s a good sign, right?” he said, looking at Johann. The pokemon nodded.

Luka put his hands on the egg. “It’s still as warm as it was before. That’s good, too.” The boy frowned. “I can’t believe he just threw it away. Just awful.”

“Good thing we were there,” Johann wrote.

Luka nodded and looked behind him at the shed. “We’ll put it in there,” he said. “It’s the perfect place. It’ll keep the egg dry and safe. That woman never comes back here, but if she does, it’ll be hidden from her. She can’t get in the front doors because they have that lock on them and she wouldn’t crawl into that broken spot in the back. Should we make a nest for it?”

Johann nodded and pointed to himself. “You want to make it? Okay. I’ll leave that to you. Let me know if you need help,” Luka said as he leaned against the shed.

The long walk usually didn’t affect him as long as he had some food in his stomach. He was used to it. But it coupled with toting the egg back had drained him. He was very tired and felt weak, a little nauseous, and overheated despite the day being cool. He gazed up at the large maple above him, very glad for the constant shade it provided.

He watched Johann as he rested. The pichu examined the taller varieties of grass closer to the river bank before breaking stem after stem with a quick bite, collecting them in his mouth, bounding back to the shed.

Once inside, Johann looked around for the best place to build the nest. The shed was fairly empty. There was an old push mower, a stack of garden tools propped up in the corner near the front doors, and a shelf along the shed’s left wall that held a rusted toolbox, jars filled with nails, screws, and bolts, and a couple of decorative tins filled with old seed packets. A small desk and stool sat near a couple of crates along the back right corner of the shed on the other side of the wall from where Luka sat.

Johann hopped up onto the desk, dropped his parcel, and looked down at the crates. The left crate was filled full with old newspapers and the right stacked three-fourths of the way to the top with magazines.

He saw a curious outline on the cover of one of the magazines that he’d never noticed before as many times as he’d been in the shed. He stepped onto the crate, wiped the thick layer of dust off the magazine with his paw, and laughed.

 _Naughty, naughty_ , he thought. He stretched back toward the desk and took some of the grass in his mouth. He coiled it on top of the magazines in a circular pattern and went to get more.

Luka watched Johann as he went back and forth, finding it fascinating the care the pokemon showed as he picked out exactly which type of grass was needed. He was looking forward to seeing the final product.

He became alarmed when Johann stopped abruptly and pressed his ears forward toward the house. This made him sit up straight and glance toward the side of the shed.

Johann grabbed the grass he’d collected and ran to the shed. He stopped and made a motion with his paw toward the house.

“Is she calling me?” Luka asked. Johann shook his head and then disappeared into the shed.

Luka looked at the egg then stared at the corner of the building again. He could hear heavy footsteps approaching as if someone walking in boots was nearing. He relaxed and leaned back on the building’s side but still kept his eyes on the shed’s corner. A short time later, Robbie walked into view.

“Were you calling for me?” Luka asked. “I’m sorry if you were. I didn’t hear anything.”

Johann peeked out of the shed and glanced around.

“Don’t worry. She’s not back here. Just me,” Robbie said. Johann gave him a grateful nod and sped off to get more grass. The man watched Johann then looked at Luka.

“I wasn’t calling you. I thought a nice walk would feel good. I also wanted to bring you something to eat since I won’t be here later. My boss asked me to work tonight and offered some good pay so I took it.” He handed a bag of food and a drink to Luka.

“Thanks. We really appreciate it,” the boy said, placing them beside him on the ground.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind at all.” Robbie’s face turned concerned the more he looked at the boy. “Are you okay? You look rough. Did something happen?”

Luka hesitated and watched Johann slip in the shed again, dragging a mouthful of grass behind him. The pokemon had caught Robbie’s attention as well.

“What’s he doing?” The man asked.

Luka sat up. “We found an egg,” he said, pulling it in front of him.

Robbie frowned. “Found or stole?”

Luka paused for a second. “Both, I guess. There was a guy carrying these eggs into one of the stores in the city. He dropped this one, freaked out, and threw it in a dumpster. I was scared they’d throw it away like the man did if I took it to the store so I brought it back here.”

“He threw it away?” Robbie asked, looking confused.

Luka peeled the blanket off the egg.

“Oh, damn,” the man said. He crouched beside it and ran his fingers around the outer edges of the cracks. “Looks bad, kid.”

“But there’s nothing leaking out and it’s still warm. See?” He took the man’s hand and placed it on an unmarred part of the egg. Robbie was still frowning but nodded.

“He’s making a nest then,” he said as Johann caught his attention again. The pokemon was dragging another bundle of grass into the shed.

“Yeah. He said he knew how to take care of babies. I guess that means eggs, too.”

“He’s a wild pokemon?” The man asked. Luka nodded. “He probably has a bunch of brothers, sisters, and cousins he’s had to help look after.” Robbie thought for a moment.

“You’ll need milk if it does manage to hatch. I’ll stop by a Pokemon Center tomorrow. There’s one right across the street from where I’m working tonight. It’s the one beside the Goldenrod department store,” Robbie said, pointing across the river in the direction of the two buildings. “I’ll get you a bottle and some formula.”

A relieved smile stretched across Luka’s face. “Thanks. We were worried about that. He may know how to take care of them but he can’t make milk.”

Robbie smiled back. “No problem,” he said and looked down. “I wonder what’s in there.”

“I know,” Luka said confidently. “You can tell by the colors and patterns of an egg what type of pokemon is inside. See the brown and tan swirls here and here? It’s an eevee egg.”

The smile became even wider on Robbie’s face. “I’ve always liked those. Cute, fluffy, little guys. How did you know that?”

Luka frowned slightly. “I heard it somewhere. And Bachmann is known for their eevee.”

Robbie’s brows raised. “This is one of their eggs?”

“Yeah. The guy’s uniform and the van had their logo on it. The egg has the logo stamped on it right here, too.” Luka tilted the egg slightly so the man could see.

Robbie whistled. Johann, who had been leaving the shed at the time, cocked his head sharply at the sound. This made Luka chuckle. Robbie looked over his shoulder and whistled once more. They both laughed when the pokemon did it again.

“That was an expensive mistake,” Robbie said, looking back at Luka. “I guarantee you he’s going to lose his job over it. They’ll also get the police involved if they find out he threw it away.” His brow then furrowed.

“The store had to be pretty far into the main part of the city. Is it the one beside that deli?” Luka nodded. “And you carried that big egg all the way back here by yourself?” Luka nodded again, this time a proud little smile pulled at the corner of his lips. “No wonder you look so worn out. How in the world did you do that? You’re so little.”

Luka grinned and shrugged.

“Tough guy,” Robbie snickered and ruffled the boy’s hair.

“But, you know you should’ve brought the egg to a Pokemon Center,” Robbie said. Luka’s smile faded and he nodded. “Still, I can understand why you didn’t. I don’t know much about pokemon but even I’ve heard of Bachmann’s. If it can hatch, you got a top of the line pokemon right there.”

“Yeah.”

“Alright,” Robbie said, standing. “I’m going to catch some sleep before I have to go in tonight. You rest, too, okay. See you guys tomorrow morning bright and early.”

“Okay. Thanks a lot for the food,” Luka said. Robbie waved as he rounded the corner of the shed and headed back to the path.

Luka covered the egg back up and leaned against the shed again. He watched as Johann intently went about his work.

 _Not even the food is distracting him and he loves food more than anything,_ Luka thought. He could tell the pokemon was almost finished, though, as he was selecting smaller tufts of feathery grass now. After a while, Johann poked his head out of the shed and motioned for Luka to come.

Luka grabbed the egg. He walked to the broken spot in the shed’s back wall and pushed it through then crawled in himself. He found Johann standing on the desk near the nest and walked over to him.

“Oh, Johann,” Luka exclaimed when he saw the nest. “You did an amazing job.”

He ran his fingers over the edge of the nest where the coarser grasses were tightly intertwined and then touched his hands to the soft, fluffy grass lining the bottom and sides. He looked at Johann. “It’s perfect.” Luka laughed as Johann puffed up with pride.

Once the egg was settled in its nest, Luka bent close to it.

“Big brother Johann made you an excellent bed,” he said softly while stroking its side. This brought a warm smile to Johann’s face.

Luka grabbed the blanket and tucked it around the egg. “You rest and just focus on staying alive,” he said and then turned to Johann.

“Johann, you deserve a rest, too. Want to go eat?” the pichu nodded quickly and jumped down from his perch.

They slipped out of the shed and sat down near the bag of food. Luka opened it and a delightful smell wafted out which caused Johann to jump about excitedly.

“He got a lot this time,” Luka said. He examined the drink after slipping the straw into it. “Mmm, a milkshake. A big one, too. Johann, try this.”

The boy had to hold it with both hands when he tipped it towards the pichu. “You know how to drink soda from a straw? This is a little bit harder.”

Johann nodded and latched onto it. He sucked in and looked confused when the contents didn’t immediately rush out like what he was used to. His eyes focused on Luka’s for an explanation.

“Keep at it. I see it coming up,” the boy said as he watched the light-colored fluid rise slowly up the straw.

Luka knew the moment the ice cream hit the pokemon’s mouth. Johann’s eyes widened and he let go of the straw, holding his mouth open slightly as he moved his tongue around, examining the taste.

“It’s going back down,” the boy pointed out. The pokemon grabbed the straw and quickly tried to drink more.

“Be careful. Remember how the soda sometimes hurts your head? These can do that to-”

He didn’t get a chance to finish before the pichu’s ears flattened and he squeezed his eyes closed. Luka laughed, pulled the drink from him, and took a sip himself. He then put it down, reached over, and massaged Johann’s head with his fingers. When the pokemon had recovered, the boy started pulling food out of the bag.

“He got a bunch of chicken. Ooh, he got those cheddar peppers, too. I love those.” Luka handed one to Johann. “They’re a little bit spicy but not too bad. Kinda like the hot sauce Robbie put on the pizza he brought the other night.”

Johann bit into. Luka could tell from the ecstasy on the pokemon’s face that he was enjoying it.

“Good, huh?” Johann nodded enthusiastically. He held his paws out for another and Luka handed him one.

They ate silently for a while until Luka noticed something out in the river.

“Look. There’s that slowpoke again.” Johann, who was about to take another swig of the milkshake, stopped and looked. Both Luka and Johann laughed as it walked up the river’s bank and rolled over onto its back with its legs flailed open.

“I wonder why he’s sticking so close to this area,” Luka said. “I’d offer him some chicken but I want to save some for dinner.”

He looked at Johann. “I don’t know if you heard but Robbie is working all night. That’s why he brought us this early.” Johann nodded. He picked up a chicken tender and gnawed on it with his back teeth. Luka also grabbed one and took a bite.

He watched the slowpoke as he ate. A water type would work nicely against that woman’s graveler and its psychic typing would help find Johann’s uncle’s ball easily should the woman not be willing to give it over but... it was a slowpoke.

His face turned grim as he remembered asking his father about how one would go about training a slowpoke. He had said they have to be taught to focus and that it takes a lot of time and much patience to do. Luka didn’t have a lot of time and the pokemon wasn’t even his.

He peeked at Johann out of the corner of his eye, then back towards the river. A pichu would be no help at all against a graveler and neither would an eevee if the egg did hatch. Johann touched the boy’s knee which pulled him from his thoughts.

The pichu patted his forehead and Luka sighed.

“I was just thinking about how that slowpoke over there would be a big help against a graveler and that he could use Psychic to find the ball if she won’t give-” Luka stopped when Johann gave him an amused and doubtful look.

“I know. I’ve,” Luka hesitated for just a second. “...heard somewhere that you can train a slowpoke to focus on a trainer’s commands but it takes a lot of time and work. I just want us to get out of here now.”

Johann leaned over and rubbed his head against the boy’s arm. Luka smiled softly at him.

“If my father was here, he’d destroy that graveler,” Johann said. “All it would take is a smack from that tail of his or even just a swipe of those big claws.”

He held his paws pad side up and flexed them, watching as his claws elongated. They weren’t anywhere near as threatening as his father’s. He bent down and wrote in the dirt.

“I wish I hadn’t put off evolving. I could’ve gotten us out of here.” Luka stared at the words for a moment.

“Johann? I was wondering something. I used to think that pokemon in their first stages were really young. Like actual babies. You don’t act like a baby at all.”

Johann smoothed the dirt and wrote some more. “I’m an adult. I didn’t want to evolve until my uncles came back so they could be there to see it happen.” Johann stopped and looked up at Luka waiting for him to finish reading.

“How old are you?” Luka asked. Johann scratched a “two” into the dirt. Luka laughed. “Two? Two years old?”

Johann chuckled. “Pokemon mature a lot faster up here than you humans,” he wrote before looking up at Luka, patting his head, and giving the boy a mock sneer. “My father is only five and he’s like the king of our group.”

“He’s a couple of years younger than me. That’s so weird. So he’s the big boss?”

Johann nodded. He smoothed the dirt again. “He told me to evolve but I kept it putting off. Foolish, foolish.” To add emphasis, he dug a deep gash under the last two words.

Luka shook his head. “No, you weren’t. Of course you’d want your whole family together. Evolving is a really important thing.”

Johann smiled at Luka, which in turn caused the child to frown. Johann’s usual confident, jovial expression was gone and in its place was a great amount of sadness. This smile was wrong and out of place and it made the boy uncomfortable.

Luka put his food down and wrapped Johann in a tight hug.

Johann hugged him back. He wondered if his father was still out looking for him. He had snuck off looking for his uncles once before and was promptly found by his father and taken back to their group. He hadn’t gone into a large city where heavy foot traffic would make following his scent almost impossible, however.

As unlikely as it seemed, he still hoped that his father could. That was one reason he made sure to go out with Luka when he was sent to steal. He hoped his father could somehow pick up on his scent and be able to follow him back here.

 _I hope you’re still looking for me,_ he thought. _I need you._ Luka gave him a rub with his cheek and sat up straight again.

The boy let out a little laugh. Johann looked at him questioningly.

“Talking about your family just reminded me of something. People call groups of pokemon different things. Like a herd of miltank or a murder of murkrow. Well, a group of raichu is called a Dazzle. A dazzle of raichu. I was told it’s because a raichu’s fur glows when it’s dark and when there are a bunch together, they glow really brightly at night. That always makes me laugh when I hear it for some reason.”

Johann laughed. “That sounds so silly but it’s fitting,” he said.

“Anyway, you’ll have to be the one to look after the egg. Which means you can’t come out with me for now and we won’t be able to do any training either.” Johann already knew this but still frowned. Luka noticed and reached over to stroke the pichu’s head.

“Hopefully it won’t be long. Maybe being shaken around like it was will make it want to get out of there faster,” he said with a smile.

“It’s going to be boring being stuck to an egg,” Luka continued. “Would you like me to tell you some stories while you lay beside it? I remember a few. And I can look through those old newspapers to see if there’s anything fun that I can show you, too. There’s a comic about a raichu named Bub. I like that one. I’ll see if I can find it to show you if the egg still hasn’t hatched tomorrow.”

“Not anything from those magazines, though,” Johann said with a laugh.

They ate their fill, took turns drinking the milkshake till it was empty, and wrapped up the rest for later. Luka took the food and entered the shed. He placed it on an empty spot on the shelf then walked over to where the egg rested.

“You ready?”

When Johann nodded, he held the blanket up while the pokemon jumped onto the crate and settled into the nest.

“You’re probably pretty tired,” he said as he watched the pichu snuggle in beside the egg. He covered Johann and the egg loosely. “Rest good, you two.”

He began to walk toward the crack in the shed. Johann poked his head out of the covers and called to him causing Luka to stop and look at the pokemon.

“Don’t worry. I just want to sit outside for a bit,” he said before exiting the building.

He could see the slowpoke still stretched out on the bank, sunning himself. The pokemon looked so peaceful. The boy felt bad that he had even considered dragging him into this mess.

He sat on the other side of the wall from where Johann and the egg were. As he stared out at the sun-speckled river, his mind went to that man at the intersection from earlier.

 _He was nice,_ he thought. _I wonder what would’ve happened if I had told him everything. I could’ve asked him to call papa and come back here like normal, but he probably wouldn’t have let me come back by myself if he knew how bad things are. I couldn’t have told him the address either. I only know my shortcuts to the city and back. I don’t think It would’ve worked out._

He felt ashamed. This wasn’t the first opportunity he had passed up where he could’ve possibly gotten help.

Faintly, he could hear Johann beginning to talk to the egg and he smiled, grateful for the interruption to his thoughts. The pokemon’s voice sounded so soft and gentle.

He laid his head against the paint chipped wall of the shed and focused on listening to Johann. It was soothing to him and after a while, he fell asleep.

Several hours later, a loud sound woke Luka. In his still half-asleep state, he hadn’t realized what the sound was and got up and ran to the side of the shed before he knew what he was doing.

He waited to see if he was being called. He heard nothing. Confused, he looked around and noticed large ripples on the river’s surface and the slowpoke missing from its bank. His sleepy mind realized what the sound had been and his body relaxed.

The sun was hanging low behind him now, giving the trees across the river a golden glow and glinting off the windows of the bigger buildings. Nighttime would be coming soon.

Luka leaned his head into the shed and listened. Johann was quiet now.

 _He’s sleeping_ , the boy thought. It had been a few weeks since he and Johann met and they had been together for the majority of it. Luka suddenly felt very lonely not being able to look down and see the pokemon somewhere nearby.

He hugged his arms around himself to ward off the chill that was starting to set in the air and walked to the hydrant to get a drink just for something to do.

He looked up at the security light that stood close to the shed as he walked, relieved that it had already come on. He hoped it would last. Some of the streetlights along the road had burned out and he didn’t want to be out here alone in the dark.

 _Maybe Johann talking to it will make it hatch faster,_ he thought as he reached the hydrant. _It should be soon. They don’t sell eggs until they’re almost about to hatch. I remember Papa telling me that._

He let his hand rest on the cold metal of the handle but didn’t lift it this time.

If he were back home right now, the grownups would be preparing dinner and he and his brothers would be outside playing. They’d be called in shortly and washed up then everyone would sit around the table to enjoy their meal together. Instead, he was here alone with his main source of comfort stuck to an egg.

Luka bowed his head and leaned onto the hydrant. His vision grew blurry. He didn’t make a sound because he didn’t want Johann to hear and come see about him but he did let the tears slide down his cheeks.

He didn’t know that Johann was watching him from the shed’s side. The pokemon had felt some movement from inside the egg and had come to fetch the boy but stopped when he saw him doubled over the hydrant.

When he saw the child’s shoulders quiver slightly and realized that he was crying, he flattened his ears, backed up, and crouched down so Luka wouldn’t be able to see him should he turn around. He knew just how much the boy hated anyone seeing him show weakness.

It was only a short time before Luka turned the hydrant on to a slow trickle, gathered a little water in his hand, and rubbed it on his face. Johann stood and ran over to him.

The boy heard him approaching and lifted his shirt to dry his face. When he looked at Johann, he was greeted a giant smile. The pokemon twirled a couple of times excitedly and ran toward the shed, looking over his shoulder.

Despite his earlier turmoil, a small smile formed on Luka’s face. Without a word, he ran after Johann who had taken off toward the crack in the shed once he saw that the boy was following.

Luka entered the building. It was much darker inside now that the sun was setting but thanks to the security light shining through the shed’s two dingy front windows, he could still see fairly well.

He walked to Johann who had situated himself in the nest and stared down at the bulge in the blanket. Johann pushed the cover off the egg and reached for Luka’s hand.

Johann placed it on the egg. Nothing happened other than Luka noticing it felt even warmer than before. Johann frowned.

“Don’t get shy now,” the pichu said. “Come on. Move for Big Brother.” The egg jerked in response. Luka’s face beamed and he looked at Johann.

“It’s going to be okay, isn’t it?” Johann nodded. He bent close to the egg, putting his muzzle to the shell.

“You're going to hatch and become a strong, healthy pokemon.” He patted the egg, and it responded with two shakes this time.

“That’s great,” Luka said but then his face fell into a worried look.

“I hope it doesn’t hatch until tomorrow. We won’t have anything to feed it if it hatches now.”

Johann’s smile disappeared. He remembered a time when one of his sisters had trouble nursing her newborn twins. It took their father and the others a couple of days to find a mother from another group willing to feed the babies. The babies did survive. One grew up as big and strong as the rest of the family but the other’s growth had been stunted and he was always sickly.

Luka noticed Johann’s worried face and placed his hand on the pokemon’s back.

“Don’t worry,” he said quickly. “Robbie said he’ll bring us some milk in the morning. It’s moving slow, so it shouldn’t hatch right now, right?”

Johann nodded. _Yeah, it’s just starting. It shouldn’t hatch tonight,_ he thought. “You sit tight in there until I say you can come out,” he said to the egg, laughing.

Luka covered the egg up and grabbed the leftover food off of the shelf then he and Johann exited the shed. Luka watched as Johann walked to an especially thick patch of grass, stretched heartedly, then fell over on his side and wallowed.

“Looks like that feels good,” Luka said, sitting down against the shed.

“Gotta get that dusty, old smell off my fur,” Johann said, lifting up and coming to sit beside the boy.

“Johann, can babies eat meat right after they hatch?” Luka said as he opened the bag and pulled out the contents for easy access. Johann shook his head and wrote in the dirt.

“No teeth,” Johann wrote. “They do grow in very fast, though.”

“I guess there’s no point in saving any of this food for it then.”

After they ate, Luka cleaned up and they settled down for the night. Johann went back to cuddle with the egg and Luka told him some of the stories he remembered the older members of his family had told him and his brothers. This went on until well after the sun had set.

When he noticed Johann had finally fallen asleep, Luka tucked the blanket around him and the egg. He never liked being in the shed when it was dark so he stepped outside.

He walked to the grass Johann had rolled in earlier, dropped down, curled up tightly to try to fend off some of the cold nighttime air, and looked out onto the river.

Watching the lights from the buildings shimmer on the ever-moving water was comforting to him. He watched those lights often to help him fall asleep. Sometimes he was lucky and could see a group of staryu’s soft pulsating glow or a starmie’s illustrious light show as they moved through the river.

He didn’t need much help getting to sleep this night. He was exhausted despite his earlier nap. His eyes were soon closed and he was lulled into a dead sleep by the gentle calls from the numerous noctowl and hoothoot that made their home in the nearby woods.

He woke early that next morning with something cold and wet pressing onto his forehead. He opened his eyes to Johann smiling down at him. He returned the smile and reached up, grasping the pichu by his head and giving him a scratch under his ears.

“You’re such a cute kid,” the pokemon said and gave him a quick lick on his forehead.

Luka looked around to get an idea of the time. It was very early. The sun had only begun to color the sky with a faint painting of light above trees and buildings across the river. Thankfully, the security light was still on and it surrounded the shed and parts of the yard in a halo of its soft, blue light.

Luka sat up quickly when he remembered the egg and looked at Johann.

“It hasn’t hatched yet, has it?” he asked. Johann shook his head and motioned for him to follow before flitting off toward the shed.

When they got to the egg, Luka rested his hands on it and grinned when it wiggled vigorously under his touch. Its warmth felt wonderful so he let his cold hands linger on it.

“It’s close, isn’t it?”

Johann nodded. He pretended to yawn while patting his mouth with his paw.

“It kept you up last night?”

Johann nodded emphatically. “All night. I spent more time talking to it than I did sleeping.”

“That wasn’t very nice.” Luka leaned close to the egg. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I was worried about you,” he said as he covered it back up.

They left the shed and froze when they saw the slowpoke was closer up the yard this time. It was chasing something through the grass. Their movement caught its attention and it stopped and turned toward them. The security light caught its eyes and caused them to flash with a greenish-blue hue.

Luka shivered. “Spooky…” Johann looked up at him and smiled.

“I wonder when Robbie’s getting off of work,” Luka said. He pulled his eyes off the slowpoke and walked to the corner of the shed to peek at the path. It was empty as far as Luka could see.

He turned around and looked out over the river. He could see the Goldenrod department store looming over the other buildings but it was the top of the Pokemon Center’s red roof that drew his attention the most.

A man who worked at the Pokemon Center had once come to his school and taught his class about safety. He had said if any of them ever got lost or if someone kidnapped them and they were able to get away, they could go to a Pokemon Center, tell the staff their name, and they would help get them back home.

He wondered, as he had done many times before, if that’s what he should do. The closest Center was pretty far away. Could he get there and could they help him before too much time had passed and the woman became suspicious?

His father could be very scary when he wanted. If he could quickly tell his papa about Johann’s uncle, could he get here fast enough to force her to give the pokemon over before she had a chance to hurt him?

It seemed too dangerous to him. There was too much of a chance she would figure out what was going on and kill the growlithe. She would do that just to get back at him.

Also, there was a small knot of worry within him. What if that woman was right about him making his family up? It was stupid, he would tell himself. His memories of his family and home were so strong but they also felt foreign to him now. Like it had been another child who had experienced them and he was just viewing those memories as an outsider.

He suddenly realized that he had been lost in thought and looked to see if Johann had noticed, which of course he had. The pokemon sat right in front of Luka, looking up at him with concern.

The boy knelt down. He had such a fierce desire to tell Johann everything overtake him. He opened his mouth and tried to speak but nothing came out.

Johann, who was now alarmed by the pitiful expression on the boy’s face, walked closer to him and placed his front paws on the boy’s hands. He looked up at Luka and patiently nodded for him to speak.

Luka stuttered for a bit and his eyes teared up. He looked away from Johann towards the river and through his blurry vision, he could see a pink blob also watching him. He frowned, feeling embarrassed, and tried to blink back the tears.

“It’s okay, kiddo,” Johann said. He gripped the boy’s hands in his paws. Luka sighed and his whole body sagged as if something heavy had sat itself on his back. He looked back to Johann and then shook his head.

“I’m sorry.” Luka pulled one of his hands free from the pokemon and wiped the tears away before they could fall.

 _I really am a coward. I’m too afraid to do anything,_ he thought, angrily. He looked at Johann. _A pokemon shouldn’t have to see his trainer being weak like this._ Luka forced a smile and then pet between the pichu’s ears. Johann scowled and he shook his head.

Luka removed his hand and looked out to the river again. The slowpoke was still watching. Luka’s eyes lingered on the pokemon wondering why it was so curious about them before looking at the sun hanging over the buildings across the river.

“We missed the sun coming up. That’s too bad.”

Johann quickly turned toward the house, his ears standing straight on end, and looked reluctantly back at Luka.

“Go,” Luka said. Johann sped to the shed and jumped in.

Luka turned to face whoever was coming and his face lightened when Robbie eventually came into view.

“I made it through the night,” the man exclaimed.

Johann slipped out of the shed and trotted to them.

Luka smiled at him. “Was it hard?”

“Not too bad. The work went quickly. We got it finished.” Robbie placed a couple of bags down beside Luka.

“There’s some formula and a couple of bottles,” he said, pointing to one of the bags. “And a brush. I told them we thought it was an eevee egg so they gave me that and told me to brush its mane and tail every single day so it won’t get all knotted up.”

“I will. Thanks.”

“Sure. It was no problem. Has it hatched?” Robbie asked.

“Nope. It’s been moving around a lot in there, though,” Luka said.

“Is it really? That’s great. I want to see.”

Luka walked to the shed and he and Johann entered. Robbie followed and tried to squeeze through himself. He got halfway in before stopping.

“I don’t know if this is a good idea,” he said with a suffocated laugh. Robbie was a fit man. He had to be since he worked in construction all day but the crack was just small enough to give him trouble.

Luka held back his own laugh but Johann didn’t. The pichu fell on the floor, laughing and kicking his legs at the sight. Robbie glared at Johann and reached over and grabbed one of his back legs, pulling it, which caused the pichu to playfully bite his hand. The man struggled one last time and made it in.

“Phew,” he gasped, rubbing his sides as he stood and moved to where Luka and Johann were near the egg.

“This is a great nest you made, Johann,” Robbie said when Luka uncovered the egg. Luka smiled as Johann puffed up again.

“Aww,” Robbie cooed, as the egg rocked gently. He smiled and placed his hands on it. Every so often, it would lurch violently back and forth. “You’re ready to get out, huh?”

“It’s moving a lot more now,” Luka said and looked at Johann who was sitting in the nest beside the egg. “It’s going to hatch today, isn’t it?”

 _The pokemon responded with a nod. I’d be surprised if it didn’t,_ Johann thought and looked around the dark, dusty shed. _It shouldn’t be born here._ He leaned close to the egg and spoke softly.

“I don’t want your first view of the world to be this place. You should see the sky, grass, and that big tree above us and feel the wind on your fur.” He looked at Luka, patted the egg, and pointed at the opening in the opposite corner of the shed.

Luka followed the pichu’s paw. “You want the egg outside?” Johann nodded.

“Okay.” Luka slipped out of the shed and looked around its corner toward the house. He spent several moments listening to make sure the woman wasn’t anywhere around. When he was sure she wasn’t, he entered the shed and picked up the egg, holding it securely to his chest.

He couldn’t help but snicker this time as he watched Robbie struggling to get out. It was an even more awkward ordeal because the man tried to slip out legs first. Once he made it, Luka handed the egg to him and exited himself.

Soon they were all sitting on the ground with the egg in the middle. They watched it bounce around for a short time.

“So, what are you going to name it?” Robbie asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

“Sigurd if it’s a boy. Sigge for short. I’m not sure if it’s a girl.” Luka said.

Robbie kept his eyes on the egg but a smile spread across his lips. “Johann and Sigge. Good names. I had all those books when I was a kid, you know,” Robbie said. “Still love them.”

Luka grinned, happy that Robbie got the reference.

“I want to take a nap but this is too exciting. I’ve never seen a pokemon being born before,” Robbie said. He rubbed his hands over his face and yawned then leaned over, picked up one of the bags, and handed it to Luka.

“Got you two some breakfast.” Johann perked up immediately and rushed towards the bag, sniffing it.

“Thanks,” Luka said. As he was placing the bag by his side, he noticed the slowpoke was still close by staring at them.

“Johann, he won’t try to eat the eevee when it hatches, will he?” Luka said, nodding his head toward the slowpoke. Johann laughed and shook his head. Luka thought for a moment. “I remember hearing that they only eat fish, bugs, fruit, and certain grasses that grow near water in the wild.”

Johann nodded. “That’s exactly it. He’s just curious about all the activity. Even a slowpoke can get curious about things, I suppose.”

“So, nothing to worry about?” Luka asked.

Johann shook his head again.

“I’m glad you know how to take care of babies, Johann,” Robbie said. “I have no idea about that stuff.”

Johann scratched around in the dirt a bit so he could write in it.

“What’s he doing?” Robbie asked and then noticed Johann was starting to write something. “Did you teach him how to write?” The man said, wonder in his voice.

“No. He said his father taught him,” Luka said.

Robbie looked at Johann, regarding his large size and his face grew concerned. “His father? We aren’t going to have a gigantic wild raichu show up here looking for him, are we?”

Johann grinned. _That’s what I’m hoping,_ he thought.

“I wouldn’t mind. I want to see how big he is. He must be a monster,” Luka said.

“I do. Wild raichu are known for being mean. Even some of the tame ones are said to be hard to handle.” Robbie said.

“They aren’t really mean,” Luka replied. “They’re just kind of sassy and don’t like to be told what to do if they don’t respect you.”

“The only well-behaved ones I’ve seen are the ones used by the security at the Pokemon Center and the police.”

Luka’s eyes widened. “You actually saw some?” He asked excitedly. “How did you know? Were they wearing the vests?”

“Yep. I saw one in Ecruteak a few weeks back and I see them all the time here in Goldenrod. The one in Ecruteak was a big guy. He and his trainer walked by me, he was on all fours, and the tip of his shoulder blades went above my hips.”

Johann’s eyes widened in recognition.

“His paws were huge,” Robbie continued, holding out his hands and spreading his fingers slightly. “And his tail was this thick.” He made and “O” with his middle finger and thumb.

“Wow,” Luka said. “I wish I could’ve seen him.”

Robbie turned to look at Johann. “Is that how big your father is?” Johann nodded. “Is he at least as good-natured as you are?” Johann laughed and shook his head quickly.

“He hates humans,” Johann wrote.

Robbie’s face turned even more worried, and Luka’s brows raised.

“Because Team Rocket took his brothers?” Luka asked. Johann shook his head. Luka frowned. “Even before that?”

“Did the big raichu you saw in Ecruteak look happy?” Johann wrote, looking at Robbie.

“Yeah. Actually, he had that same cocky smile that’s always on your face.”

“Is he part of your family” Luka asked.

“I’m pretty sure he is,” Johann wrote and looked at Robbie. “On one of his front legs, did he have brown on only his toes instead of going up the leg like normal?”

“Yeah. On his right front leg,” Robbie said.

“That’s one of my brothers.”

“I bet your papa didn’t like him being caught by a human,” Luka said.

Johann shook his head. “He wasn’t caught. It was all Father’s doing.” Luka and Robbie looked confused.

“I was surprised, too. The gist of it is my brother enjoyed fighting a little too much. Father was worried he’d end up getting himself killed because he was challenging everything he came across so he took him to Ecruteak and asked them to put that energy to good use.”

Johann stopped there and wiped at the dirt to give himself a clean slate. “His reasoning was that my brother could fight all he wanted and they would take care of him so my father wouldn’t have to worry about him.”

“But you said he hated humans,” Luka said, still confused.

“He does. He didn’t have a choice because my brother was acting up so badly. Father said the Pokemon Center does a lot of good for wild pokemon and sometimes also fights against Team Rocket alongside the police so there’s no shame for a pokemon to work for them.”

Johann looked at Robbie, narrowed his eyes, and set his mouth in a grouchy scowl. He pointed at his face and then bent and wrote some more.

“If you see a big raichu with a face like this, that’s my father. Tell him how to get here.”

Robbie read the message and scoffed. “No way. I’m not doing that.”

“He’s not one of the dumb feral pokemon. He’s not going to randomly attack you,” Johann wrote. “He can get that ball from her and then we’ll all be free.”

“She has a graveler, Johann,” Luka said.

“Won’t be a problem for him,” Johann wrote. He then looked at Robbie expectantly.

“Alright. I’ll keep an eye out,” Robbie said, still looking doubtful.

“I’m exhausted,” he said as he laid back on the grass. “I’m going to nap. Wake me up if you think it’s going to hatch.”

“I will,” Luka said. He noticed the blanket nearby and handed it to the man. “Here. You can use this as a pillow.”

“I’ll do that. Thanks. Hopefully I don’t have a nightmare of your dad showing up, Johann.” The pichu grinned at him.

Luka looked back at the egg. He could see the dented in spot moving slightly. He placed his hand on the shell and felt the pokemon inside push against it. The sensation made him feel goosey and he pulled his hand back quickly and rubbed it against his knee.

Johann’s ears tilted forward and he motioned to the egg.

“It’s making sounds?” Luka whispered and put his ear to a smooth spot on the shell. He could hear little muffled yips and soft grunts coming from inside. His lips pushed together in a tight, excited smile.

They kept quiet as they ate so they wouldn’t disturb Robbie, both staring expectantly at the egg as if it would hatch at any moment.

After they were finished, Luka looked through the other bag. Johann laid on his side across from the boy watching him, his eyes half closed in contentment that only a full belly could give. His ears jerked and swiveled as he listened to the baby’s conversation in the egg.

Luka looked over the two big canisters of powdered formula and then the bottles in the bag. There was a little scrub brush to clean the bottles as well and an actual brush for fur. Luka pulled out the brush and plucked off the price tag.

“Come,” he whispered to Johann and pointed to the ground in front of him. The pokemon’s ears perked up at the directness of the command and he stood and walked to him.

Luka cupped the side of the pokemon’s face with one hand and brushed the other side then his forehead and down his throat. He repeated this a few times before switching sides and then giving the pichu’s cheek pouches a rub with his fingers.

It felt wonderful to Johann and he closed his eyes. Luka then took Johann’s left ear and very gently brushed the inside and then the back.

The boy smiled at the look of pleasure that was on the pokemon’s face. He did the same for the other ear and then ran the brush through the pichu’s mane and down his back and sides. The boy was amazed at all the loose hair coming off of the pichu.

“You’re shedding like crazy,” he whispered.

Johann fell onto his side and rolled over onto his back, exposing his belly. Luka chuckled and brushed his chest, stomach, and back haunches.

He tried to brush the pichu’s tail as he had done his ears but Johann wasn’t having any of that and reached over and gently nipped the boy’s arm. Luka stopped brushing and gave him an amused look.

“You really don’t like your tail messed with?” The boy asked. “I’ll have to remember that if you ever get on my nerves.” He smirked, grabbing the tip of the pokemon’s tail and giving it a soft tug.

Johann looked genuinely annoyed and butted the boy’s arm with his nose before laying back down. Luka took him around his middle and pulled him so that the pokemon’s back faced him and began brushing him again.

“Johann,” he whispered after a short time. The pokemon’s ears moved from their relaxed, sagging position, turning to point back toward him. “Will your papa be mad at me if he does come here?”

Johann looked back at the boy, confused by the question.

“It’s my fault his brother was caught.”

Johann’s expression softened and he shook his head before turning away from the boy.

Luka kept brushing the pokemon, trying to get rid of as much loose hair as possible, gathering up balls of fur and tossing them to the side. Every so often, his eyes would go to the egg. It was constantly rocking now with quick, jerky movements. Eventually, the egg lurched toward them so hard that it rolled into Johann’s shoulder.

The egg quivered again and a large, new crack appeared on the previously smooth, unbroken side. Johann stood and examined it while Luka quickly crawled to Robbie.

“Robbie wake up,” he said, giving the man a hard shake. “I think it’s hatching.”

The man responded with a grunt. Luka didn’t wait for him to awaken. He immediately made his way back to the egg.

He was about to position it where the damaged side was facing up again so the pokemon would have an easier time getting out but Johann took hold of one of his hands and stopped him with a shake of his head. Luka was confused but put his hands down.

Robbie sat down beside him, trying to rub the sleepiness out of his eyes, and Johann stood on the other side of the egg. They all watched in silence as the egg shook violently.

Another hard hit from inside caused the new crack to widen. Another made it split open and caused a few shards of shell fell to the ground. A black nose peeked through the tiny opening eliciting a few ‘awws’ from the small group.

One more hit and the pokemon’s head and then body was free and it spilled out of the shell and onto the ground before Johann. It laid prone for several seconds with its eyes open and unfocused before it looked up at Johann.

Johann’s smile grew even bigger. He crouched down so he could be eye level with the eevee.

“Hello, little… uh,” he paused, leaned forward, and lifted one of the eevee’s back legs. “Brother.”

The eevee’s ears perked up at the sound of Johann’s voice.

“Brother…” the eevee said. Feeling the word form in his mouth was odd. He locked eyes with Johann. “Big brother Johann.”

Johann laughed and patted between the eevee’s ears. “You were listening in there, huh, Sigge?”

 

*“Sig-geh” is how I pronounce the eevee’s name.*


End file.
